Shepherd's Pie

One of the benefits of weekly meal planning is being able to reuse leftovers. An example of this is Shepherd's Pie. Earlier this week we had mashed potatoes with corn with dinner so when I made them I made sure to make extra and save them in order to make Shepherd's Pie. Doing this also cuts down your grocery bill. If you do not have leftovers this can easily be made by making mashed potatoes the night of. 




To start heat up 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet and add in diced onion, 2 stalks of celery diced, and 2 large carrots that have been peeled and sliced. Saute them until they start to get soft, about 5 minutes or so. Then add in the ground beef. I only used about 3/4 lbs. of ground beef but this can easily be doubled in the same recipe. 

Break up the ground beef as it starts to brown then add in corn and frozen peas. The frozen peas I had on hand were actually peas and carrots so I got some extra carrots added into mine. You could also buy the frozen peas and carrots and leave the sliced carrots out... up to you! I think that's one of my favorite things about Shepherd's Pie is that it is rarely made the same. I just kind of go through my refrigerator and see what veggies I have on hand to throw in there. You can leave out anything you don't really like or add in extras like frozen green beans or even diced tomatoes.

Once the ground beef is completely cooked drain off any excess fat. Return the skillet back to the stove and season the meat and veggie mixture with a little salt and pepper. Now, if you are using leftovers and you have leftover gravy from the mashed potatoes you can add that in. I did not have any gravy so instead I added in 1 Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and 1/2 cup of beef broth. Let this simmer for about 3-4 minutes. 

Transfer the meat mixture into a 2-quart baking dish and top with mashed potatoes. I think I had about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of mashed potatoes and I actually could have had a little bit more but this worked. Since I was using leftover mashed potatoes I did heat them up the microwave for about 45 seconds just to soften them up a bit so they would be easier to spread.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes or until the edges just start to turn brown. And that's it! Easy and delicious casserole that's filled with veggies! 

Chicken Noodle Soup

This past weekend my entire family has come down with a cold so I figured I'd try out a timeless "feel better" remedy of chicken noodle soup. I thought making chicken noodle soup was much more complicated than it turned out to be which means I see a lot more soup in our future! 

Another benefit of meal planning is it can cut down your overall time in the kitchen. For example, while making chicken noodle soup I made extra chicken so I could also make chicken salad to have for lunch this week. For the chicken noodle soup I only used about 3 of the chicken breasts. 

I decided to season our chicken before cooking it. I sprinkled both sides of the chicken with garlic salt, pepper, and oregano. Then I baked the chicken at 375 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until cooked through.

Once the chicken is cooked you can shred it. I do this by putting it in my kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment but it can also be shredded by hand. 

While the chicken is baking you can prepare everything else for the soup. Dice 2 stalks of celery, I do this by first slicing the celery lengthwise and then into small pieces. Also, peel and cut up 2 carrots, 2 parsnips, half an onion and 3 cloves of garlic.


You many be wondering, what is a parsnip? It is very similar to a carrot, they are in the same family but a parsnip is lighter in color and taste sweeter than a carrot. Parsnips also have Vitamin C, which can be an immune booster, perfect when trying to overcome a cold! 






 Place all of the chopped veggies in a large pot with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Heat and cook for about 5 minutes or until they are start to get soft. 




Once the veggies are soft add in 6 cups of liquid. This can be all chicken stock or a combination of stock and water. I only had 3 cups of chicken stock on hand when I made soup so I used that with 3 cups of water and the broth still had good flavor. I also added in about 2 teaspoons of dried thyme and seasoned it with some salt and pepper. Bring the stock to a boil and add in about 2 cups of dry pasta. I chose whole wheat rotini. Some times pasta gets soggy in soup but I felt like the whole wheat pasta held up nicely; even when we reheated the soup for lunch the next day. Simmer the soup for about 7 minutes to cook the pasta. 

Add in 2 1/2 cups of the shredded chicken and gently stir it into the soup. Simmer the soup for about 5 minutes. 

 That's it! Healthy, delicious, homemade chicken noodle soup full of veggies; perfect for a cold evening.

Veggie Manicotti

I think manicotti is one of the best Italian foods out there. It's giant pasta, stuffed with cheese, covered in sauce and more cheese. As delicious as it is it does not really fall into the healthy category. As part of my families New Years resolution to eat more vegetables I decided to change our standard manicotti into one filled with veggies. Sadly, I was unable to find whole wheat manicotti shells so I had to use regular ones. I don't know if the jumbo shell pasta comes in whole wheat but the filling could also be put in those and baked the same way.

Now, there are 3 parts to this dish that are then all brought together and baked; the sauce, the pasta, and the filling. Luckily it is easy to make all 3 at the same time and cut down on time.

Start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil and adding in the manicotti noodles. You want the manicotti noodles to be al dente; this means they are still firm but not hard. If the noodles get too soft they will fall apart when you try and stuff them. I would say let them boil for about 7 minutes or so.



Once you fill the pot with water and it is coming to a boil you can get started on the pasta sauce. This is a slight variation of the homemade pasta sauce post. I just add tomato sauce to make it a little more liquid which covers the manicotti better. 

Start by heating 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Add in 4-5 crushed garlic cloves. Saute them until they are just toasty brown and then add in a can on whole tomatoes.

I also add in an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce, 1 teaspoon of basil, oregano, onion powder and some salt and pepper to taste. Feel free to season your pasta sauce any way you like. Let the tomatoes simmer for about 5 minutes and then smash them up. This can be done with the back of a wooden spoon but I like to use a potato masher. I think using a potato masher is easier and gets the tomatoes into smaller pieces. Once the tomatoes have been smashed let it simmer for another 5 minutes or so to let all the flavors really come together.

 Ok, now that you've got the pasta and the sauce going it's time to make the filling. This can also be made first and then let it sit while you make the pasta and sauce. Take 1 zucchini and 2 carrots and grate them. This can be done with a food processor or just on a cheese grater. I chose to just use a cheese grater this time. I also chopped up about 1 cup of spinach and arugula. Arugula has a pretty strong flavor to it so you can keep it just spinach or any or greens you have. I had planned on using just spinach but we have a small garden where we grow some greens and we had significantly more arugula than spinach so I decided to use both. 

 In the same bowl as the veggies as in a 15 ounce container of ricotta cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, 1 egg, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, and any spices you would like. I added in a little more basil and oregano, as well as a little garlic powder. Stir it all together. 


Once the noodles are cooked drain them and return them back to pot. I like to put a little bit of cold water over them. This cools them down to stop them from cooking and makes it easier to handle them in order to stuff them. It also helps from them drying out as you stuff each one. 




Place about 1 cup of pasta sauce on the the bottom of a 9x13 pan to make sure the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. 





There are a couple different ways to stuff each noodle. One way to do this is to use a small spoon and carefully slide the filling into the noodle. Another way to fill them is to spoon the filling into a large ziploc bag, seal the bag, and then cut the corner off. This is basically a homemade pastry bag and then you just squeeze the filling into the noodle.


Once you fill a noodle lay it in the pan until the whole pan is full. Pour the rest of the sauce over the pasta. 




Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven, sprinkle about 1 cup of mozzarella over it and then bake for another 10 minutes. 

There you have it; delicious veggie manicotti! 

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Ok, technically this is baked rotini and cheese because I couldn't find whole wheat macaroni noodles when I went to the store. However, this is the most delicious pasta with cheese sauce ever! Now a $0.75 box of processed Mac and Cheese is a hard price to beat but what are you getting for that $0.75. Mac and cheese from a box contains: Wheat flour, Niacin, Ferrous sulfate, Thiamin Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic acid, Whey, Milkfat, Milk Protein Concentrate, Salt, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Citric acid, Lactic acid, Sodium phosphate, Calcium phosphate, Milk, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Enzymes, and Cheese culture. That is a lot of processed and artificial ingredients! Personally, I don't think Mac and Cheese from a box even tastes all that great especially when compared to real homemade food. 

Fun Fact for this post: It is also believed that Thomas Jefferson loved Macaroni and Cheese so much he had it served at dinner parties.

To get started cook about 8 oz of dry pasta. This time I used whole wheat rotini. While the water is coming to a boil and the pasta is cooking you can make the cheese sauce. 

Start by heating 2 Tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat in a large sauce pan and saute about half of an onion. The onion adds really good flavor to the pasta but if you don't like the texture of eating onions mincing them up really small helps. Cook the onions until they are just soft. 






Add in 2 Tablespoons of whole wheat flour and a teaspoon of pepper. I also add in 1 teaspoon of ground mustard and 1 teaspoon of paprika. Stir the flour mixture into the onions. Continue stirring until it turns into a small paste. 






Add in 2 cups of milk and stir constantly as you pour the milk in and continuing stirring; you want the sauce to reach a smooth consistently instead of lumpy. Continue to stir and cook the sauce until it starts to thicken. 

 Add in 2 cups of cheese. This can be done in any sort of combination. I did 1 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup of monterey jack cheese. You could use just cheddar cheese, cheddar and swiss, American cheese or any combination of the above. Stir the cheese into the sauce mixture until melted. 






 Once the pasta is done cooking fold it into the cheese sauce. Pour into a greased 2 quart baking dish. 


I like to put a breadcrumb topping on the pasta before baking it. It gives a nice crispy finish. Melt 1 Tablespoon of butter in a small skillet with 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs. I prefer to use Panko breadcrumbs. They are a Japanese breadcrumb that tend to be crispier than regular breadcrumbs. Toast the breadcrumbs until they are a light brown.


Once the breadcrumbs are toasty sprinkle them over the pasta mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until the top is crispy and browned. 

Homemade baked Macaroni and cheese using real natural ingredients! 

Cost Break Down!!

A whole onion cost $0.52 and I used half so it was $0.26. 1 Tablespoon of butter costs me about $0.08 so the 3 Tablespoons I used cost about $0.24. 2 Tablespoons of flour cost me $0.07. I would guess that the pepper and the spices cost about $0.25. A gallon of milk cost me $3.26 so 2 cups would be $0.40. The cheese I used cost me about $2.00. A box of rotini pasta cost me $0.99 and I used about 2/3 of it so I would say it cost about $0.66. The 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs I used cost about $0.25

All together I made a 2 quart pan of baked macaroni and cheese for $4.13. That is a homemade dinner made from real ingredients for less than $5!